i'm wondering if anyone will mention the fuel economy.
HAHAHA...why?? Its a 4 banger, hot hatch, the fuel mileage should be decent-ish, but thats not the point of this car.
because if it was a Hyundai or Kia, we wouldn't hear the end of it...that's why.
HyKia made their own problem with the fuel economy mess, as did Ford. They both deserve all the criticism and skepticism they now receive - in my mind, not so much because their real-world fuel economy numbers aren't very impressive compared with the EPA test (true of most small turbo engines), but because these companies were so arrogant in their MPG advertising - especially when they denigrated the competition. Now it's biting them in the ass, and they deserve it.
And although the Fiesta (and Focus ST) don't get great real-world gas mileage, they at least have the performance to compensate for it. The Korean hot hatches have great performance on paper, but don't seem to perform nearly as well as the competitors in real-world testing. C&D tested the turbo Forte5 SX - similar power output from its 1.6L (201HP/195TQ - in theory, vs 197/214 for the ST). Yet the Forte5 was 7.5 sec to 60 mph, 8.3 sec from a street start, and 15.7 sec @ 89 mph in the 1/4 mile. For a 3000 lb vehicle that supposedly has 200 HP, that's not very impressive. Veloster turbo was a little quicker than the Forte5, but still can't catch the ST (C&D got 7.0, 7.5 and 15.2@93 mph for the ST, plus it is MUCH better handler).
Not trying to slag the Korean MNFRs here (I still love my ET! And I'd consider buying many other Korean vehicles), but they do have a tendency to overpromise on the spec sheet, but under-deliver in the real world.
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-kia-forte5-turbo-test-review
